One injection could kill cancer, study finds

Scientists have successfully eliminated cancer tumours in mice through a single injection, and humans may be next.

The research was carried out by scientists from the Stanford University of Medicine in California and has been published in the Science Translational Medicine journal.

The study researched the possibility of injecting tiny amounts of two agents that stimulate the body’s immune response directly into a malignant solid tumour.

According to the research team, after injecting a combination of the two immune boosters into solid mouse tumours, it eliminated all traces of the specifically targeted cancer.

The vaccination was replicated in 90 other mice and it successfully cleared the tumors in 87 of them.

Although cancer returned in three of the animals, another round of immune treatment resulted in the regression of the tumours.

The procedure was also carried out in mice that had breast, colon and melanoma tumours.

“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumors all over the body,” Ronald Levy, senior study author said.

“This approach bypasses the need to identify tumor-specific immune targets and doesn’t require wholesale activation of the immune system or customization of a patient’s immune cells.”

The researchers believe they can quickly move to clinical trials for this method since one of the agents used in the treatment has already been approved for use in human therapy while the other is under clinical trial for lymphoma treatment.